Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [20]

Time flew by. Before he knew it, the second weekend since Hikigaya Ryōhei had begun working part-time at the convenience store had arrived.

Having received this week's wages, he once again had a day off.

Unlike Aoyama Nanami, Ryōhei wasn’t pushing himself to the brink, squeezing every last minute for part-time jobs. Honestly, that girl’s exhausting lifestyle worried him—perhaps he should find time to give her a proper talk. Dreams were admirable, but blindly chasing them through sheer hard work wasn't always the best strategy…

Oh, right—the piano left behind by his ex-wife Tōma Kazusa had already been listed at an antique instrument auction house in Chiba. Who knew how much money he'd recover from that.

Today, Ryōhei didn’t plan on staying home. Instead, he decided to go somewhere a bit further out and make good use of his day.

It worked out perfectly since the kids weren't home—he had complete freedom to arrange this day however he pleased.

Hachiman and Komachi had gone out traveling with their grandmother to relax. Although at first the kids had refused, probably worried they'd upset him, Ryōhei honestly didn’t mind. Saving a week’s worth of meals for two mouths and easing his parenting burden was far more practical.

Taking care of kids wasn’t easy.

Especially two of them.

Even though both were well-behaved, parenting was tiring.

“Your Grandma Yōko loves you both dearly, so if there’s anything you want, or anything delicious you crave—be sure to let her know! Obedient children always get nice presents.”

That morning, when Tōma Yōko arrived as promised, dressed coolly and fashionably to pick up the siblings, Ryōhei had said this with a bright smile.

He’d spoken so pleasantly that their beautiful, unnaturally youthful grandmother—with her pale skin, ample curves, and impossibly long legs—had again shot a suspicious glance at her utterly ordinary ex-son-in-law.

She was surprised he didn’t make sarcastic comments in front of the children this time.

But there were clearly barbs hidden beneath those polite words—you think I can’t hear them?

I, Tōma Yōko, am not some stingy cheapskate!

“Hey, hey! Just how old do you think I am? It’s not like I haven't raised kids myself before—I don’t need your instructions!” Yōko scoffed. Money was no issue for her; nowadays, she only performed at concerts on her own terms. She’d sold countless albums, and just last week she'd received emails from Hollywood directors asking her to compose for next year’s blockbusters.

“All right, all right. You raised kids before, true, but never properly finished the job… Anyway, off you go—and remember to bring them back at least one day before school starts!” Ryōhei urged, gently pushing the slightly awkward Komachi and Hachiman out the door.

Although children their age were deeply impacted by parental divorce, the desire to have fun always won out.

After confirming that their father genuinely allowed them to travel with Grandma, Hachiman remained relatively calm.

Komachi, however, had struggled unsuccessfully to hide her excitement since last night.

Kids being happy was always a good thing, especially for the Hikigaya siblings, who lived beneath the heavy shadow of their parents’ separation.

Early on the weekend morning, having checked his route beforehand, Ryōhei caught an early train heading into central Tokyo.

Of course, he wasn't heading to Shibuya or Akihabara—he was too old for places like that.

He wasn't like those typical high schoolers or otaku who’d been reincarnated into this dream-like, two-dimensional world.

A mature adult’s first priority was survival and responsibility.

Instead, Hikigaya Ryōhei was going to buy second-hand books.

Don’t ask why!

It’s simple—I’m poor!

He knew the original "Hikigaya Ryōhei" had graduated from the education department at Tokyo Gakugei University, a prestigious national institution specializing in teacher training.

Coincidentally, that degree matched his own occupation from his previous life perfectly.

Although the original Ryōhei hadn't pursued teaching after graduation, meaning he'd lack over a decade of actual teaching experience on his resume, that wouldn't be a problem for him personally.

What he genuinely lacked was knowledge of the past century’s history, radically altered after the non-occurrence of the Russo-Japanese War.

This world was really something. On the surface, daily life seemed no different from his own world, but deep down, the differences were immense!

Aside from the wildly altered geopolitical history, even the technology tree seemed oddly twisted.

Just yesterday, Komachi had sent him a photo—they'd traveled with Yōko on a passenger airship to Okinawa… This world apparently lacked the entire technological branch of airplanes.

Of course, everyday civilian technology didn't look too different from what he was used to at first glance.

But military technology showed obvious discrepancies. From what Ryōhei had gathered, perhaps due to the absence of the two World Wars, global military tech development had veered off in an utterly bizarre direction.

Let’s start again from airplanes!

No airplanes meant no aircraft carriers.

Radar technology existed, but it wasn't nearly as advanced as in his previous world.

Without aircraft carriers, surface fleets faced no aerial threat, rendering Aegis destroyers unnecessary as well.

There were no guided missiles either, though rocket-propelled torpedoes had somehow become popular.

Interestingly enough, nuclear weapons were entirely absent, likely due to the peaceful century without two massive wars…

Speaking of reading, the Jimbochō bookstore district in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward was truly a holy site for book lovers. Jimbochō was densely packed with bookstores, publishers, and wholesale book dealers, making it Japan’s largest bookstore district.

Seeing this street full of bookstores, Ryōhei breathed a sigh of relief. At least this world still shared some familiar traits with his own.

He’d originally learned about this famous place from a Japanese teacher in his previous life.

Tokyo’s Jimbochō was paradise for bibliophiles.

There were countless second-hand bookstores there, especially clustered along Yasukuni Street. Radiating out from Jimbochō intersection, from JR Suidōbashi Station in the north to Ochanomizu Station, and eastward toward JR Kanda Station, there were approximately 180 bookstores.

Second-hand books of every conceivable variety were available—from specialized academic texts and reference materials to purely entertaining novels.

Hikigaya Ryōhei never intended to keep working part-time at the convenience store indefinitely. After careful consideration, his quickest route to improving his situation was by becoming a history teacher again.

But this required studying.

Transferring his history-teaching skillset from China to Japan’s particular historical context meant he had to cover an entire century’s gap.

That was basically it.

Without bothering to browse through every bookstore, Ryōhei targeted his searches specifically toward history textbooks, teaching guides, comprehensive chronicles, and detailed historical analyses covering the past hundred years.

Just as he walked past two or three bookstores, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar, petite figure standing at the entrance of one.

After all, they met nearly every day. Even though she wore a hat, he immediately recognized her.

“Aoyama-san? You’re here buying books as well?”

Ryōhei lightly patted the girl’s shoulder with a familiarity born from daily interactions.

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This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!